Diana attempts to pacify an ancient feud between two groups of warriors. One of those groups is her own family of Amazons, but even that is the least of her concerns as she faces an intense showdown with Paula Von Gunther in Wonder Woman #757. Writer Steve Orlando winds a tale of centuries-old retribution that is brought to the page by artist Jesus Merino and inker Vicente Cifuentes. The story pitting Amazon against the Valkyrie takes a strange and interesting turn as Orlando’s story begins to reach its inevitable conclusion. A story which had been veering into some pretty timeworn territory is given new life in Diana’s latest issue.

The powerful entity known as Genocide is launching an assault on the beach of Themyscira. The Amazons are having a hell of a time containing the strong force, even as Wonder Woman and Donna Troy arrive to aid in the combat. When it becomes apparent that Paula Von Gunther is in control of Genocide, Wonder Woman is off to confront her. By now completely aware that the Amazons may have been lying to her about history every bit as much as the Valkyrie had been lying to Paula, Diana is ready to lay down arms and find a common truth. Things reach a delicate balance when a stranger arrives to throw matters into potentially deeper peril. 

Orlando’s tale of ancient, immortal feuds between powerful warriors had been feeling a bit tedious in places. He’d been covering territory that had been pretty well-explored in action fiction for many, many years. Diana’s fearless search for peaceful truth in the face of so much ancient aggression is a nice departure from a compelling, eternal vendetta fantasy story. The sudden turn into something far more mysterious at issue’s end shows considerable promise in a story that has a heroine searching for truth between individuals that surpasses any concept of outside authority. This could get interesting. 

Merino and Cefeuentes manage a few moments of action that feel genuinely kinetic, but for the most part, there’s a hell of a lot of powerful posing here. Battle postures and glances of grim determination are perfectly cool and everything, but this is a story of conflict that needs more of a visceral impact of action. What Merino and Cifuentes lack in execution of action they make-up for in dramatic tension. Diana’s fearlessness and Paula’s second-thoughts come to the page quite vividly in the rendering of inner conflict across the two warriors’ faces. 

Orlando has been rolling through the motions between Valkyrie and Amazon for a few issues now. It’s invigorating to see the action take a more novel direction in a story, which is becoming much more vividly allegorical as the plot progresses. Wonder Woman’s selfless search for a more profound inner truth is admirable. Orlando is tapping into one of those elements of Diana that makes her so appealing in a chapter that promises a potentially fascinating direction for future issues.

Grade: A-